It's official: the Australian Sex Party (ASP) is now a bona fide political party, entitled to appear on the ballot paper, raise funds and even - if they gain more than four percent of the primary vote - eligible for public funding.
This follows a long drawn-out tussle with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), after several …

Re orgiastic notions

re: "orgiastic notions"

The cause of this is that fact that the word "party" can have two meanings: a political group, campaigning for representative rights in parliament; or a gathering for social purposes, often involving music and/or alchohol.

"Sex party", you see. It's a pune, or a play on words.

This is the sort of humour that has politicians rolling around in the isles. Or, indeed, the aisles.

Where's the US branch?

They sound like the Anti-Republicans. Pro gay marriage, pro sex ed, and pro contraception. I can just see the Republican's now looking for their garlic and holy water and for ways to blame teenage pregnancies on dirty influence from Australia.

UK Branch

Really

no public sex ed for the kids. How will they learn about sexting? The Australian government are making the English government look fucking progressive, not repressive - national firewall, three strikes and out policy, no mention of real world drugs in computer games (no 18 cert for games at all). God speed to ASP, get the word out. It's time for the proles to rise up...

@John Angelico

The Sex Party

mirrors Europe?

"In this sense, they mirror recent developments in Europe, where Pirate Parties have been established out of a sense that government is only listening to one voice when it comes to internet issues."

1) There is an Aussie Pirate PArty too, although it's not as far along as the ASP is. http://ppau.info/

2) there's THREE main issues that the Pirate Party covers. Yes the copyright part of the copyright/patent reform is mentioned as above, but there is also two other areas, Government transparency and accountability, and an increase in personal privacy (which does NOT trump the transparancy, if you're a candidate, expect to be transparent, because such a job is your choice, and it's part of the 'requirement' of the job, that you're accountable to the electorate.

However, I will give you partial credit, in that all 8 currently registered Pirate Parties are in Europe (although Canada will be soon)

orgiastic notions

we're serious about sex

re anonymous coward- it is interesting that most of the political corro I have had is from disenchanted labor and Lib party members . I think that we will more likely attract a lot of people who are just disengaged with politics rather than Greens voters.

Our campaigning to date as been through the adult industry whose customers represent 30% of the electorate. While some of them will be Greens votes they are a very broad cross section of the population.

We need to get about 10% of the vote in one state to win a seat in the upper house. I think that Australians are getting tired of the creeping social conservatism in politics and the close links our current government and opposition has with groups like the Christian Lobby. We are also seeing very socially conservative parties gaining footholds in parliaments around the country and I believe that the Sex Party can be an antidote to them.

They've made it hard

to decide who I'll vote for in the Senate. Greens, ASP, or (if they get their act together in time) the Pirate Party? I certainly hope these three can work out a preferences-sharing deal to increase the chances of any one of them putting members into the upper house. All the same, I'm an Australian who can be proud of some of my countrymen at least.

"Sex is deeply rooted in the lives of all Australians"

@eros

"Our campaigning to date as been through the adult industry whose customers represent 30% of the electorate. While some of them will be Greens votes they are a very broad cross section of the population."

30% of the electorate work in the adult industry!?!? Jesus - i have to get myself to Australia.